Captain Crunch belonged to friends of Aunt Mel’s. Captain Crunch lived in their barn. His job was to control the mouse population. He was very good at his job despite a significant handicap.

Captain Crunch only had one eye. When he was a kitten, he fought with a raccoon who scratched out his eye. But missing an eye had no effect whatsoever on Captain Crunch’s ability to hunt.

Aunt Mel’s friends sold their farm and were moving to a new home that had no room for a barn cat. Aunt Mel was happy to offer a home to Captain Crunch. When you live in the country, a good mouse hunter is an asset on any farm.

Captain Crunch moved to Aunt Mel’s house and lived in the barn with the horses. He was already an old cat, but for many years he did a great job of controlling the mice and rats. And every morning he followed Aunt Mel while she fed the horses. He was a big helper around the barn. He was always nearby keeping his one good eye on everything.

The last time Aunt Mel was Captain Crunch was a summer morning. He ran to meet her in the morning and wanted to be picked up. Aunt Mel carried the purring cat to the barn and as usual, he followed her around supervising the morning chores. Aunt Mel scratched his back and told him he was a good kitty. She went back to the house to get ready to work.

Life is hard in the country. Often pets disappear with no apparent reason. Sometimes they are sick and go off to be alone, sometimes the coyotes eat the cats. You do what you can to make a good life for the farm animals and hope that in the end, they do not suffer.

Something happened that Captain Crunch disappeared that day and it mad Aunt Mel very sad. Captain Crunch was a very sweet cat who had a very happy life living in a barn and chasing mice. Missing an eye had no effect on his joyful outlook on life. He never felt sorry for himself. We could all learn a lesson from Captain Crunch’s example – one should be positive and enjoy life despite a physical limitation.